The Incense Monopoly Order

Chapter 74 Unintentional Intention

"Thank you for your reminder, sir. I understand what to do." Magistrate He's undisguised admiration for Shang Mingshu was visible to anyone with eyes. County Magistrate Gao still disliked Shang Mingshu, but he wouldn't argue with his superiors over a little girl who didn't matter to him. "Your Excellency is right. Madam Shang San is a female Zhuge Liang."

When the assassins at the gathering of literati were finally stopped, anyone with a brain would become suspicious of the Shi family. Even if County Magistrate Gao trusted Shi Houqiong, he would not trust him to the point of causing him to lose his mind.

Although Shi Houqiong complained to him repeatedly in private that she had misjudged people and was used by Mr. Fang, which almost led to a big mistake, County Magistrate Gao's suspicion of Shi Houqiong did not decrease in the slightest.

However, it was rare to meet someone who shared the same views as him and who truly understood him. County Magistrate Gao still had a glimmer of hope in his heart that Shi Houqiong was indeed innocent. He only thought about this glimmer of hope in his heart and would never dare to gamble on it. Those were the Japanese pirates who burned, killed, and looted, the existence that the imperial court hated the most. Once implicated, the lightest punishment would be the confiscation of property and the extermination of the clan.

I would rather trust it to have it than to trust it to have nothing.

However, he has been biased towards Shi Houqiong for so many years, and the entire Huizhou Prefecture has seen it. Even if he actually distances himself from Shi Houqiong, if Shi Houqiong is really convicted of Japanese pirates in the future, it will be difficult for him to stay out of it, as there will always be people who will attack him for this.

The imperial court would rather believe it than not, and would choose to dismiss a small county magistrate like him or never reuse him for the rest of his life.

Now that he has the opportunity to break up with Shi Houqiong, he couldn't ask for more.

He Zhifu heard clearly that County Magistrate Gao was just following his compliments. He sighed softly, "Mrs. Shang San has a bright future. The Shang family is upright and honest. You might as well put aside your prejudices and take a closer look."

The results of the Autumn Examination were still a few days away, but when they came, Cheng Mian was on the list. He, the prefect, had been skeptical about his ranking, but after a thorough investigation, he discovered that Cheng Mian had managed to finish the exam despite such circumstances and even passed.

With Cheng Mian's temperament and talent, he will surely achieve great things in the future. If he marries a woman like Shang Mingshu, the couple will become one. Even the prefect He dare not predict how far these two can go or how high they can climb.

He would not tell these words to County Magistrate Gao, so he could only say tactfully, "This is the letter that the Third Lady handed to me."

Patting County Magistrate Gao on the shoulder, Prefect He left a letter and left.

After County Magistrate Gao escorted Prefect He out of the county government office, he took out the letter from the opened envelope.

Magistrate He left it for him specifically, so it was definitely not Shang Mingshu's slander against him. He never expected that it actually contained his great achievements in She County for five years. There were some things that he had not taken to heart and had forgotten.

There is not a single exaggeration in this account, it is a straightforward account, recording one good thing after another that he has done for She County over the years. Seeing the end, County Magistrate Gao's eyes were filled with tears.

As an official appointed by the imperial court, it was his duty to do his job, but his actions were seen and remembered by the people of She County, especially by those whom he had disliked or even treated unfairly.

A feeling of fullness, sourness and warmth filled my heart, and I felt a mixture of joy and guilt, all kinds of emotions lingering in my mind.

If Shang Mingshu were here, she would probably say it was a misunderstanding.

The content of the letter was discovered by Cheng She. Before seeing the letter, Shang Mingshu had no prejudice against County Magistrate Gao. She even secretly speculated that County Magistrate Gao had accepted bribes from Shi Houqiong.

She also hinted that Shang Jinliang had given gifts to County Magistrate Gao. Shang Jinliang was a stubborn man. He could please others, but he had to take the initiative. He hated being forced the most. Therefore, he would rather give up the teahouse in She County than bow to County Magistrate Gao.

In Shang Jinliang's words, this was to encourage the corruption of County Magistrate Gao. From this, it can be seen that Shang Jinliang also tacitly believed that County Magistrate Gao had received many benefits from Shang Jinliang.

In fact, County Magistrate Gao was an honest official. The reason why he valued Shi Houqiong so much was that he used the idle houses in the county government office as a charity school to accept poor students, and sometimes he even served as a teacher himself.

One year, it rained heavily and the old, dilapidated county government building collapsed. He was crushed by the beams while trying to save the students. It was Shi Houqiong who came to rescue him late at night with the Shi family servants. That was the first year that County Magistrate Gao had just arrived in She County.

Afterwards, Shi Houqiong catered to his wishes and County Magistrate Gao developed water conservancy projects and dredged many rivers in She County, allowing thousands of acres of wasteland to be reclaimed. Shi Houqiong contributed money and effort, and often even did the work personally with County Magistrate Gao.

Shi Houqiong even spent a large sum of money to recruit talents and compile local chronicles to record the geography and customs of She County...

After reading this, Shang Mingshu put herself in County Magistrate Gao's shoes and thought that if she were County Magistrate Gao, she would probably also regard Shi Houqiong as a close friend.

Therefore, Shang Mingshu temporarily changed her plan. She could not let a good official like County Magistrate Gao, who was dedicated to serving the people, be put in an unjust position because of personal grudges. She gave the letter from the investigation directly to Prefect He, knowing only that Prefect He came here to inspect his performance, so as to save him from having to run around again.

I never thought that an unintentional planting would lead to a forest of willows.

Perhaps touched by Shang Mingshu's letter, County Magistrate Gao interrogated Shi Bing overnight. Shi Bing was not Shi Erchuan. He insisted that he was innocent, that he knew nothing, and refused to plead guilty.

But the evidence was conclusive and he had no room for quibbling. He did not even admit his own guilt, so naturally he would not only admit his guilt to Shi Houqiong. Shi Houqiong went to the county government office in person but did not take Shi Bing away.

"As long as Shi Bing refuses to plead guilty, will this continue to be unclear?" Shang Zishu was a little anxious after hearing the news early in the morning.

She even felt a little guilty. She knew best that Shi Erchuan did not hire the villagers to go up the mountain to burn the tea trees. It was Shang Mingshu who found a ventriloquist who imitated Shi Erchuan's voice and paid the villagers to go up the mountain to burn the tea trees.

She and the guards then went to different places to stop the attacks in time. She did this for two purposes: first, to avenge Shi Houqiong's original frame-up; second, to take the initiative and make Shi Houqiong dare not easily attack these tea trees again, otherwise he would be unable to explain himself.

Even if he couldn't get any evidence, everyone would be suspicious of him. If he wanted to do business, he couldn't have this reputation of being vindictive, as it would scare away everyone he wanted to do business with.

Huizhou merchants are currently thriving, and no one is irreplaceable. If they don't cooperate with Shi Houqiong, there are other tea merchants. Apart from anything else, Shang Jinliang is a good choice.

With this incident, whether Shi Houqiong continues to attack the new tea trees or not, the Shang family will benefit.

"That depends on how Shi Houqiong acts." Shang Mingshu was busy in the kitchen of the old house, making some snacks that Cheng Mian liked. She planned to take these foods with her and ask Cheng Mian to go out on horseback together.

Although it is not spring and we cannot go out for a spring outing, autumn has its own charm.

"Hmm?" Shang Zishu reached out and stole a piece of copper goose meat and stuffed it into her mouth, which was bulging with food.

Shang Mingshu is quite talented in cooking. The Wugang braised food was just a dictation from a Wugang businessman, and she was able to make it with a little study. Every time she makes it, the fragrance spreads ten miles away.

(End of this chapter)